Starting the return trip - with complications!

(With both boats - posted by Alan)

Phil on Hyperion is already away from Ricky and serving customers.

We have had a great weekend at Rickmansworth.  We couldn't leave yesterday evening, as David was still involved in other things in London, and got back to the boat far too late (and tired) for anything to happen last night.

Cassio Bridge Lock

A complication has arisen about our return trip, not originally envisaged when we booked in to "Ricky".  It relates to the continuing issues that our son Michael has with his ankles.  The last operation was one on the ankle he didn't smash up spectacularly last August, but once that had occurred they would not operate until he was well through the very long recovery from the broken ankle.  However the broken ankle, has also continued to cause issues, and he has been awaiting further surgery on that.  With our usual luck on timings, that operation was recently advised to him as taking place tomorrow, Tuesday.  Once again he will need someone at home to take him to the operation, or more particularly to bring him home, and to support him until he can manage on his own.

Iron Bridge - possibly the most photographed lock on the Southern GU.

We debated calling off yet another planned trip, but decided that with some ingenuity we could probably still go to "Ricky", but would have to stagger and delay much of our journey back to give Michael the support he needs.

Very low pound between Cassiobury locks.

So today we decided progress away from Rickmansworth would be slow, as many boats moved North, and that we were unlikely to get beyond Kings Langley before someone would need to leave the boats and catch a train home.  This was a good guess - progress has been slow, and despite no hiccups by us, Kings Langley is still as far as we have managed to reach.

What has now been called "North Grove" lock foe some years - a modern name

As I write this, Cath has already headed for home, where hopefully she now is.  Having taken Michael to his operation first thing tomorrow, she hopes to be able to join us for two or three hours moving the boats a bit further, before heading off again to take him home.  As we have no idea how much support he will need, and for how long, after that the plan can only be flexible.  The only certainty is that it will take a lot longer to get from Rickmansworth to our home mooring than it did to get there.

Batchworth (Rickmansworth) to Home Park (Kings Langley)
Miles per boat: 6.5, Miles both boats: 12.9, Locks: 12
Total Trip Miles: 141.4, Locks: 81